


Teatime for One

by rulanarinrush



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: BE Ingrid, BL Felix & Sylvain, Crimson Flower route spoilers, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-27 23:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21127343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rulanarinrush/pseuds/rulanarinrush
Summary: On a fine spring day after the war, Ingrid has some tea with her friends.





	Teatime for One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the angst squad and all the other bread eaters in the discord](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=the+angst+squad+and+all+the+other+bread+eaters+in+the+discord).

> I'm sorry that this will make no sense at the beginning, but hopefully it will make more sense at the end.
> 
> Thank you to [ starsun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsun/pseuds/starsun) and [knoir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bchemicalromance/pseuds/knoir) for betaing this fic! You are both awesome, check out their 3H works and others if you haven't already.
> 
> I do not own Fire Emblem or its characters.

When they were younger, the four of them would have tea at the Blaiddyd castle, accompanied with sweets provided by the castle’s servants. Glenn usually didn’t accompany them, being that there was much to be done as a knight of the kingdom and his insistence that he had no time for such frivolities(even with Felix’s doe eyes pleading him to join), but Ingrid found fun in their parties either way. When she wasn’t scarfing down pastries into her mouth, she’d be listening to tales of Sylvain’s escapades(which she, of course, would have to deal with later) or Dimitri’s misadventures with Gilbert during his training. Either way, there was some enjoyment to be had during those parties.

It’s a nice day for tea, Ingrid thinks as she pours the tea into cups. It's a calm spring day, not too sunny, not too cloudy, and there’s no war. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t have tea today.

“Ugh,” Felix complains, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Mint? Really? Did you really have to choose such a strong tea for this? It’s not like we’re doing anything today.” At that, Ingrid only pours him half a cup, which gets a snicker out of Sylvain. Her pointed glare quickly gets him to shut up.

“Well I, for one, happen to like this tea, so suck it up,” Ingrid replies, settling down into her seat and taking a sip. It’s rather warm, and the strong smell of the tea fills her lungs with a vague nostalgia that she hasn’t felt since the beginning of the war. She’d had barely any time to herself during the war, and certainly no time for tea parties. It has likely been at least five years since she drank this particular blend of tea.

“His highness isn’t joining us today, but maybe _he_ will show up, just for you,” Sylvain starts, taking a sip of his own tea. His nose wrinkles at the taste. “How can the two of you drink this without any sugar? And especially you, Ing. Don’t you usually have sweets with this, or is Ferdinand really rubbing off on you?”

Ingrid casually ignores the last remark. “Despite common belief, I actually can go without any sweets,” to which Felix rolls his eyes. “And this tea tastes wonderful, you just have no sense of taste.”

Felix looks bored. “Hey, if we’re not doing anything worthwhile today, perhaps we should-“

“Spar? Absolutely not.” Ingrid finishes for him. “It’s far too nice of a day to spend all day training.”

Across the table, Sylvain whistles. “Taking pointers from me, are we?” he says, to which both Ingrid and Felix give him an unimpressed look. “I’m just saying, seeing Ingrid so laid back is a nice change of pace.”

Ingrid wishes Sylvain would remove Lúin from his ribcage, that would make her much more comfortable. She supposes that a hero’s relic must take quite a bit of strength to remove. 

Instead of telling him to remove the lance, Ingrid finally decides drops a sugar cube in his tea. She wishes that more of the Blue Lions could have showed up today, but she supposes that that’s just how it is. Annette and Ashe probably didn’t want to show up with soot and ash all over their clothes. The lancer would know just what a pain removing it all is. And Mercedes likely has to wring the rainwater out of her dress. And Dimitri-

-well, he probably doesn’t want to see her.

“-What about those Black Eagles? They treating you well?”

“Black Eagles Strike Force,” Ingrid corrects, shaking off her distracting thoughts. “And yes, they’re fine.”

“Really?” Sylvain replies. “If you say so. Though if you ask me, there was always something off about Hubert. Something creepy.”

“Don’t be rude,” Ingrid remarks, taking another sip of her tea. It was starting to get bitter. Did she brew it too long? “That’s just how he is. Always working for Emperor Edelgard’s benefit. You could take pointers.”

“You could take pointers,” Felix says to her in turn, raising the tension at the table. “What? It’s true.”

“Anyway,” Sylvain says, attempting to change the subject, to which Felix lets go off far too easily. “Did you get your land back after the war ended?”

Ingrid bites her lip. The tea tastes nothing at all like mint anymore, just the aftertaste like the taste of bitter defeat. “Yes and no. The land belongs to me now. A reward for my services in the war, but the system of nobility is gone now. There’s not much I can do with it now.”

Galatea was always a cold and infertile land, and the war doubled the hunger plaguing the land. Even if she had little power, there was much to be done.

“What are you doing now?” Felix asks. Somehow, the scar on his neck that was left when Lúin had sliced through it is more prominent now. 

“Nothing much,” she answers. This somehow feels like an interrogation. “I’m a knight now,” to which only Sylvain gives her a small congratulatory clap. She carefully avoids both their gazes. “I have been for nearly a year now.”

“That’s good,” Sylvain says. “Really good. I’m glad you got to be who you always wanted to be.” Felix’s silence is enough of an answer as to how he really feels about it, but he lets her have this moment. “I’m really proud of you, Ing.”

The wind picks up. Sylvain and Felix both exchange a knowing look and nod.

“Well, I guess it’s time to go,” Sylvain says.

“Be seeing you, Ingrid. But not too soon, got it?” Felix adds.

Ingrid nods in assent. “Yeah,” she whispers. “Yeah, of course.”

Soon, Ingrid is left with nothing but silence and her cups of tea, three full, one empty. She supposes she may as well finish whatever is left in the teapot.

On her way to pour herself another cup of tea, Ingrid heard her name. The voice starts to grow closer, and in turn, so does the cheerfulness of the voice.

“Hello Ingrid! Fancy seeing you here. I didn’t think you were the type to like tea. I usually see you around the stables or… or the training grounds. But seeing you here is a nice change of pace!”

“Hello, Dorothea,” Ingrid greets back. “How have you been?”

“Oh, lovely. Did you hear that I got the leading role in a newly written opera?” That’s news to Ingrid. “It’s about a woman forced to choose between her loyalty to her country and her freedom. And as all stories with those kinds of plots go, you can guess what happens.”

“She gets both?” Ingrid responds carefully, to which Dorothea sighs. 

“Yes, indeed. Though we both know that real life rarely works out that well. It is quite a lovely story, though. I hope you’ll go see it.”

“I’ll try,” Ingrid answers, though she’s already made up her mind. 

The songstress looks over. “That tea over there’s getting cold,” Dorothea says. Upon closer inspection, Dorothea looks puzzled. “Why’s there 3 full cups of tea here? There’s only you here.”

“I just had some tea with some friends,” Ingrid answers. “One of which hasn’t shown up yet.”

Dorothea looks offended. “Someone stood up my lovely Ingrid? How dare they? And the nerve of of your other friends! Leaving a full cup and half a cup of tea behind. The least they could do is finish their tea.”

Ingrid laughs at that. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call both of them extremely well mannered. The person I’m still waiting for is, however.”

Dorothea doesn’t look particularly convinced. “Clearly not that well mannered if they’re making you wait.” A look enters Dorothea’s eyes, the glimmer of a cat that’s just found its treasure. “Maybe I can fill in their shoes?”

“Sorry,” Ingrid apologizes. “I’m expecting someone,” she repeats.

The songstress grumbles. “A shame,” she sighs wistfully. “Here I was hoping to court a beautiful lady over tea while they’re gone,” she winks. “Now tell me, who’s the lucky person?”

Ingrid smiles at that. And she says:  
  
“Glenn.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this makes sense at the end. I kind of wanted to put "Ingrid pulls a hardcore Dimitri" in the tags.
> 
> Fun Fact: This actually started as a prompt I wanted to fulfill for Sylvix week. How did this happen? Ask my 3AM brain that pulled a 180 on me.
> 
> All kudos, comments, and criticisms are appreciated! Once again, thank you to my betas, and the bread eating squad on discord.


End file.
